Louis Felty spent most of his working life as a licensed fire alarm planner, running his own firm for 18 years after founding it in 2006 and selling it in 2024. Now 72, he says he’s stayed on as part of the new owner’s staff. In 2017 he stumbled into beekeeping by accident when a swarm set up a hive in a recycling bin he used for kindling. That surprise encounter grew into Bee A Ok Bees, a small but steady beekeeping operation.
Felty now tends about 15 hives—roughly 150,000 bees—and estimates his colonies produce several hundred pounds of honey each year. He bottles that honey and sells it at the Saginaw Farmers Market from late spring into the fall, offering jar sizes from small 4–8 ounce containers up to pound jars and quarts. He prices local, raw honey at roughly $1.25 per ounce, which usually puts a one-pound jar in the neighborhood of $20.
Not all of Felty’s hives are at his Ridglea North home; he places colonies across the area, including in Aledo, Lake Worth and Saginaw, and manages them in both residential and rural settings. He’s careful about harvest timing: the spring nectar flow typically ends in June, so he rotates which sites he extracts from to supply upcoming market dates. He also leaves plenty of honey on the hive so each colony has the 30–40 pounds they need to survive winter.
Beekeeping for Felty is a hobby that roughly balances income and expense—some years he claims only a few hundred dollars after equipment, feeder sugar and other costs. He views the small profit as money to reinvest in the hobby, not a commercial venture. Alongside selling honey, he offers a paid service to trap, remove and relocate bees or hives for homeowners who want them moved humanely.
Felty volunteers with the local beekeepers association and stresses that prospective beekeepers should take a beginner class. He warns there are many avoidable mistakes: for example, moving a hive only a couple of feet at a time helps bees reorient; if you want them to relocate entirely you need to move the hive a couple of miles so the foragers learn a new home. He also watches for pests and diseases, checking for small hive beetles and testing for Varroa mites that can devastate colonies.
On honey quality and use, Felty recommends keeping it raw and avoiding heat—he says temperatures above about 104°F begin to degrade the nutrients in honey. His simple advice is to enjoy it by the spoonful; if shoppers just want a cheap sweetener for coffee or tea, he suggests buying the largest, least expensive jar available rather than specialty local honey, since his product reflects the extra care his bees receive.
